To pluck a heart's rose
by kdlovehg
Summary: Valentine's day for sixteen year old Peeta and Katniss as they discover what love is and just how far Peeta would go to make Katniss smile. Unless of course, she finds out but isn't love worth sacrificing it all, yet what if all you sacrifice is all you would win...


The red foil shines as the light from the fireplace reflects onto it. The fake rose lays at the bottom of the handcrafted frame housing the faded photo taken the day they met, exactly four years ago. Katniss was sleeping in the children's area of the library after reading the books of her childhood - the ones her dad had read to her mum whilst she was pregnant with her. She'd been volunteering at the local nursery and in her rush to leave she'd forgotten her library card, by the time she returned they'd closed for the day. Restless and desperate for some comfort she'd sat down to read but the sun shining through the blinds only aiding in lulling her to sleep.

Next thing she saw was the comically wide eyes of a young 12 year old boy trying to crawl away from her. It took two years until he confessed about the photo. Apparently, he'd seen the small girl and assumed she was taking a nap, after all, didn't all sane teenagers do that? The boy - Peeta as she'd come to learn - was even more shy than she was, with dirty blonde hair that would block his sight and shirts with sleeves stretched out over his hands. He'd heard of valentine's day but in a house full of boys and with few friends he'd yet to actually prove that he could connect with a girl. Until he saw her. Quickly he had dusted off his father's camera, set the timer for ten seconds and crawled over to her. Katniss imagined he was poking his tongue out throughout the process as he had attempted to be sneaky and lift the sleeping girl's head so it was resting on his shoulder. Unfortunately, he said, that he was acting too bold for his age and attempted to kiss her. He succeeded, giving her a peck on the nose as the second flash went off, except as he moved away.

Well she sneezed.

'I thought you were allergic to me' he'd told her shyly at the end of his story. He couldn't have been more wrong.

That's why the valentine's gift made her want to cry. Four years later and he'd got her a half fake, half chocolate rose. Who would want that? She wouldn't have minded previously but they'd been _together_ for a year now. He was her _boyfriend._

They were grown up.

They progressed in their relationship.

Oh yes, they were past nose kisses - although they were still ongoing.

They'd moved onto eye contact.

So a chocolate rose? Well Katniss wasn't a romantic or anything, and personally she thought that valentine's day was pointless, but surely he could have put a bit more effort into choosing her a gift. I mean she'd prepared his surprise gift for a week and all their pets came round to watch as they painted their favourite designs on each other, or at least he did as she gave him the supplies and made up stories for each image.

Not to mention he had to live up to her parents standards who viewed love as sacrificing anything for a small smile.

It hurt. It hurt a lot.

Cause Katniss cared for him, however unintentional. Sometimes it seemed she was the only one.

She picked it up as the door behind her creaked open. He's slow, heavy footsteps showed he was hesitant. Damn well should be. She sniffed.

"Did, did you like it?" he stuttered as she turned to look at him. His hair hung over his glasses obscuring his vision just like it had years before. The dark green frames where her favourite colour and likewise the reading glasses she wore were his - a gentle orange.

"Yeah" she whispered watching as he bit his lip and tugged the sleeves of his T-shirt over his hands. "It's" she searched for a word that he'd take as a compliment "sweet".

"Well it is chocolate".

She hummed and swayed slightly as they stood opposite each other, neither moving. From a look he could sense that she wasn't pleased with his gift.

"But I... you like food" he says scratching his head as a blush spreads on his cheeks. "I mean that's what you said".

"I did" she murmured trying to dismiss the feeling of sadness that his gift caused. "But it's not cheese buns" she replies, grateful that she found an excuse.

Peeta clears throat and uses his sleeve covered hand to wipe at his glasses, a nervous tic she's noticed. "I can make you some if you like. Its past eight but I'll stay up past my bedtime and run to the bakery if you-".

"No" she interrupts pausing as she remembers the curfew his mother made him follow since he was born. If he ran home and got caught then he'd probably end up with a beating from the woman, though for some reason she doubts he wouldn't do it for her. He was odd like that. "It's okay".

He gestures to the gift as his voice cracks during his attempt at a romantic speech, "You _rose_ above all other girls and stole my well you know..." he blushes and evades my eyes "my heart and my... I shouldn't finish that sentence. I'm not old enough to. So um could you be my valentine?".

She replied with her a small smile and a pun of her own. "Rye wouldn't I?".

Katniss lifts up the rose with a smile. "I guess I'll go um, eat this. Thanks".

He huffs, the breath blowing his curls up before they lazily drift back down. "Can I just. Do you mind if I...".

"What?" he shuffles over at the sight of her furrowed eyebrows and pecks her cheek, his thumb brushing against it as she blushes as though trying to wipe it away. Ease her discomfort. She blushed harder.

She stumbles down the stairs as she recalls what happened prior to the nap Peeta took with her. She remembered crying after she'd ate the rose and was left with a plastic stem. She'd wasted his gift and was too embarrassed to admit that she'd have preferred a real flower even if it would've died a day later. It seemed only she would make the sacrifices in their relationship.

Yet soon as he saw her bloodshot eyes peeta dragged her into the kitchen and melted down some chocolate so that he could make her some more roses in an attempt to cheer her up. Katniss argued that valentine's day was over at 12:01 but Peeta explained that the time zones were different in every district so technically they had at least four hours left of valentine's day. That made her smile. She still didn't think he deserved her. But he'd do anything for a small smile. He was odd like that. So very odd.

Whilst it was melting on the stove he showed her how to pipe flowers and imprint a design into ingredients like flour which consequently ended with her giggling and Peeta standing in the room blushing despite being covered in flour.

As they settled into the last hour, they had drawn their name and the date into the chocolate before placing it in the freezer to act like a little fossil that they could eat in the morning.

They had then sat on the floor and he wrapped his arms around her with a promise to spend their next valentine's day at the beach. How she got to her room she doesn't know but that doesn't mean she regrets it.

Katniss strolled over to the fridge and pulled out some of the chocolate before she sat down and began to read the book logs of their savings. Her nose crinkled at the taste. The chocolate seemed different than the rose, which she resigned to the idea that however useless a gift it was it made her happy if only for a moment. The chocolate was still flavourful and would melt within seconds if she didn't chew but it didn't seem as rich. The rose must have been dark chocolate? But that must be artificial. No-one can afford real dark chocolate. Well unless they were from the Capitol which her and Peeta weren't.

She flips open the log and scans through the records. Income from bakery, coins spent on trade. A violet coughing racked her body and she clung to the table, squeezing her eyes shut as she heard his footsteps thumping down the stairs. Forcing herself up she ran to the sink to get a drink of water, trying not to choke herself in the process.

A deduction. They were missing at least 3/4 of their college funds, or at least Peeta's. She knew he'd been saving. They both had. That money would have taken almost his whole life to earn. Did he give it away? Damn his mannerisms. "Peeta" she screamed slamming the empty cup down, her eyes darting around rapidly. Sixteen times two meant thirty years. He couldn't wait thirty years to go to learn. "What the hell? Where's the money? You son of-". She jerks to a stop.

A labeled tag lays among their rubbish. Crumpled and torn she catches a glimpse of the words written.

"Peeta... what?" her voice trails off as she goes silent, stunned.

 _Authentic Gourmet Chocolate, Hand Crafted._ _Distribution - Capital._ The familiar price lays scrawled at the bottom as she gapes at it with a small phrase.

 _Love is sacrificing all for the smile of someone who sees you as no-one._

She doesn't deserve him. Oh no. Oh no. Her gaze collides with his as she blinks back tears.

He flattens his hair down. Straightens his glasses and with a shy smile, he shrugs. "Happy valentine's katniss".

 ** _Authors note ~ Happy valentine's day! If you celebrate it. Hope you enjoyed this. It's my first ever one-shot for valentine's day so I'm proud of it. Thanks for reading! Feel free to review, let me know what you think! :)_**


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